From the monthly archives:

February 2008

That’s what I call paper prototyping!

by Richard Pak

Paper prototyping is a technique in usability where the interface is simulated using paper. This embedded video, in Russian, looks like a giant, high-fidelity paper prototyping session.

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Top-10 Application-Design Mistakes

by Richard Pak

Nielsen’s most recent Alertbox on web-application usability…some good tips updated for ubiquitous web apps,
Summary:
Application usability is enhanced when users know how to operate the UI and it guides them through the workflow. Violating common guidelines prevents both.
[link]

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Unintended consequences of technology (more automation induced problems)

by Richard Pak

Satellite navigation devices have been blamed for causing millions of pounds worth of damage to railway crossings and bridges. Network Rail claims 2,000 bridges are hit every year by lorries that have been directed along inappropriate roads for their size.
I guess it would be cost-prohibitive to put this bridge information into the GPS databases…
[link, from Engadget]

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Pew Internet report on mobile internet privacy

by Richard Pak

Many Americans are jumping into the fast, mobile, participatory Web without considering all the implications. If nothing really bad has happened to someone, they tend neither to worry about their personal information nor to take steps to limit the amount of information that can be found about them online. This finding dovetails with our previous work related to spyware — [...]

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The Double-Bubble Ballot

by Anne McLaughlin

U.S. news agencies are reporting on the California ballots that ‘may have lost Obama the California primary.’ The argument is that he would have pulled in the ‘declined to state’ voters (those who have not registered as either Democrat or Republican), but that because of a human factors error with the ballot, those votes may not have been counted. (The [...]

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